A Strange New World
by Mr. Churchill
Summary: Aang, Toph, Katara, and Sokka are at the beach when some very strange people show up and offer to take them to a distant land. Contains some minor romance, i.e. Katara X Aang, Sokka X Toph. and Katara X Mystery Boy. First fanfic so please review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Strangers in Kyoshi

They stood together in the growing sunlight, on the shores of Kyoshi, sharing a moment of peaceful silence. Which then was brutally shattered by Sokka running to them in usual state of panic.

"AANG! KATARA! " he screamed, waving his arms like a crazed chimpanzee.

"WHAT!?" they replied angrily.

"I think that's a Fire Nation ship out there!"

They turned to look out towards the horizon and the beautiful rising sun over the glistening crystal sea, and indeed they did see a steamer, which they would normally think of as belonging to the Fire Nation.

"Then maybe we should get moving," Aang said quickly, "We should have been going yesterday anyway."

"Lets get everything packed up," Katara said in her usual business like tone.

Then they set to work packing every thing up. Random pots and pans, blankets, that sort of thing. Aang and Toph rushed down to shore to collect water for the trip. Aang would bend the water into the air, and then Toph would earth bend the salt out of it. As they filled up the water skins, Aang took a glance out to the steamer. He saw that it was a dirty white, instead of the usual dark grey that characterised Fire Nation ships. It also flew an unfamiliar flag from the mast, situated in between two smokestacks instead of the regular single one. He also heard a snatch of music that was coming from the ship, unlike any he had heard before.

"When Britain first arose, from azure waves..."

He turned to Toph and said,

"I don't think that's a Fire Nation ship."

"I don't think so either," she paused "The engine sounds different, more powerful."

Another snatch of music, louder this time around,

"RULE BRITANNIA! BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES! BRITONS NEVERNEVERNEVERRRR SHALL BE SLAVES!"

"Okay, now I'm sure that's not a Fire Nation ship. Sokka! Katara!" Aang yelled.

"Yes Aang?" they replied.

"That isn't a Fire Nation ship out there!"

"What?" Sokka replied incredulously "Of course it is! No other nation makes ships like that!"

"Well tell them that!"

Sokka stormed over the hill, his typical mix of arrogance and pompousness in full swagger.

...

Meanwhile, on the Queen Victoria, the members of Her Majesty's Pacific Anomaly Exploratory Force (PAEF) listened to the final chorus of "Rule Britannia" blasting from the speakers. As the final notes drained away, Commodore William Wilberforce's gruff voice sounded over the intercom.

"Alright! Now that you've been properly inspired, time to get to business! As you know, we have been sent by the Queen to gather information on the other side of the Pacific Gates, and now here we are! We assume that we have gained access to what seems to be an entirely new planet, gathered by the creatures that we have come across, like those giant carp," he paused to shudder at the memory of it, "Anyway, I want the airship crew to the airdeck immediately! Everyone else to the bow!" He shut off the speakers and turned to the airship captain, a young man from Germany named Heinrich Himmel. "Capt. Himmel?"

"Yes Commodore?"

"Prepare the Queen Bess for takeoff."

"Yes Commodore."

...

Sokka observed the ship and said,

"Okay, maybe it isn't a Fire nation ship."

"Well then which nation does it belong to?" Toph said with her ever-present sarcastic tinge.

"I don't know, maybe Earth Nation?" Sokka said, the "I don't know" coming off his tongue like lead balloons.

"Doesn't look like it." Aang said. "I've never seen that flag before in my life."

"Maybe we can get their attention." Katara said excitedly. "Yoo-Hoo! Over Here!"

...

On the Bridge of the Queen Victoria, the Commodore received an unexpected call from the lookout telephone.

"Sir?" the lookout hesitantly asked.

"Yes?" he replied gruffly.

"Sir there's four natives and a giant bison on the shore!"

"Mr. Bentley?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Have you been drinking?"

"No sir! Have a look for yourself if you wish!" he replied indignantly.

"Alright Mr. Bentley." He had a look through his binoculars and gasped at the sheer size of the bison. "Mary Mother of God what is that thing!?" He picked up the telephone to the Airdeck and waited for the call to go through.

"Hello?" a voice inquired.

"Hello. This is Commodore Wilberforce. I need to speak with Capt. Himmel."

"Alright sir. Please hold for a moment."

William stirred his tea and took a sip as he waited.

"Ja, this is Himmel."

"Captain! You shall address me by my title or 'sir'!"

"Deeply sorry Commodore. What is it that you require of me?"

"Good. I need you to provide air support to the land group instead of an independent exploration."

"Sir?"

"We've spotted some natives, with some sort of giant six legged bison. We have no idea how dangerous this could be, the only machine gun is on board the Bess, and we want to have an aerial advantage in case this turns ugly."

"Sir, how many natives are there?"

"Four,"

"Sir?" barely controlling his urge to chuckle.

"Capt. Himmel! There could be many more hiding in the trees, and that bison could be very dangerous!"

"Yes sir!"

...

"Do you think we've got their attention?" Katara asked Aang.

"I think so," he replied.

The scene was surreal. The landing craft were being frantically loaded and prepped aboard the Queen Victoria's bow, while the round and plump silver airship Queen Bess lifted off the stern. The Sea of Kyoshi was gleaming in the noonday sun, and the four friends stood and watched as the landing crafts were lowered into the sea. The steady chugging of the engines mixed with the whistle of the boats undersized smokestacks as they plowed through the surf towards the beach. In the boats were men and women all dressed in the white helmet, red shirt, and white pants that made up the Standard British Military Uniform (SBMU). All armed with Watson 9mm Revolvers, and trained expertly in marksmanship, the PAEF were among the best-trained units in Her Majesty's Imperial Army. On the Queen Bess, the crewmen were trained the same way and wore flight-suits with built-in parachutes, and these men and women were also trained in the art of operating a hydrium airship.

"Those people look like they're military," Sokka said somewhat anxiously.

"Yeah, but they will be nice to us, right?" asked Toph.

"Probably," Aang replied in a very ambiguous way.

The craft reached the shore and unloaded the PAEF soldiers. They approached the Avatar and his friends with their hands on their pistols.

"'ello?" one of the soldiers asked, "Any chance you speak English?"

"Hi! I'm Aang, the avatar. I can bend all of the four elements and I came to save the world from the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Ozai!" He proclaimed quite grandly to the assembled members of the PAEF.

"They speak English?" a startled soldier said.

"Apparently. What is this land child?" a kindly female soldier named Elizabeth asked softly.

"The west coast of the island of Kyoshi, which is part of the Earth Kingdom," Aang proclaimed grandly.

"And what is that giant thing behind you?"

"This?" he said, pointing towards Oppa. Elizabeth nodded, "His name is Oppa, and he's a flying bison."

"A flying what?" she asked with surprise.

"A flying bison! Watch!" he yelled as he jumped up on Oppa and rode him around the airship floating above. Needless to say, the PAEF were stunned.

"That was impressive,"

"Thanks!" he said.

"What did you mean by saying that you can bend the four elements?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Watch!" Aang said simply.

He proceeded to do some of his most spectacular bending of earth, water, fire, and air that he had ever done in his entire life. The fire spewed out as if from a dragon's mouth, the water swished and swirled like the most beautiful of waterfalls, the earth shook like god himself had decided to rent it, and the air twisted like the four ancient gods of wind were blowing it about. At the end of the display, the PAEF soldiers were stunned. Major Emerson approached Aang and said simply

"That was the most astounding thing I have ever seen."

"Thanks!" his childlike mannerisms floating back to the surface.

"Would you and your friends like to come back to Great Britain with us?"

"Where is that?"

"Across the Pacific Anomaly Gate and far to the north."

"Maybe. Let me ask my friends," he turned to them and said "Well?".

"I don't know Aang. We're supposed to be fighting Ozai," Katara said hesitantly.

"I think we should go with them!" Sokka proclaimed with exuberance. "They might be willing to help us with fighting Ozai."

"Toph? What do you think?" Aang asked

"I also think we should go," she said back. "They seem to know a lot of stuff, and their ship sounds impressive."

Aang turned back to the Marshal.

"We would love to!" he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A Strange Event in a Strange World

Six days later, the Queen Victoria passed through what Commodore Wilberforce called "The biggest two stacks of rocks I've ever seen in me life!" He was all too right about that, because these were two huge stacks of shimmering sapphire-esque crystal that stuck out of the Pacific Ocean/Sea of Kyoshi like two points on Neptune's trident. In between the two masses of crystal there was a shimmering tear in the fabric of time and space separating the world of the avatar and the Earth. As the Queen Victoria passed through this supernatural rift, Katara's eyes weren't on the astounding beauty of the two mighty pillars, but rather on a handsome young member of the PAEF named Alex Richter. Katara was obsessed with his golden hair, boyish charm, and sporty nature, and was feeling she didn't know him well enough. She sidled on over to him as he leaned against the railing staring at the supernatural beauty of the crossing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked in the sexiest voice she could muster.

"Yeah,"he said turning towards her. "All these pretty lights are nice and all, but there nothing compared to what I see right there."

Katara chuckled nervously, and then mustered up a shy, "You really think so?"

"I really do. You want to share a table at dinner tonight?".

"Oh I would love too! I've got to get ready!" she exclaimed excitedly as she sped off towards her cabin. The young rascal smiled and said to himself

"You'll be sharing a bunk with me too love,"

Unfortunately for the lecherous Mr. Richter, Aang had heard the whole conversation, including the bit about the bunk and the sharing. Needless to say, he was not all too happy about this. He himself had nighttime fantasies about him and Katara that had caused him no end of embarrassment when he woke up and the covers were wet. Worse is when Sokka saw and called him a "bed-wetter" in earshot of Katara, and he couldn't explain what the liquid really was, because that would be even more embarrassing! He started to think about how he could ruin Alex and Katara's dinner date.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A Dinner Date Gone Wrong, and a Pink-Haired Eavesdropper

Aang crept along the passageway to Katara's cabin, making as little sound as he could. The tropic wood flooring creaked as he slinked and slithered across it. Aang was pissed! Someone who he thought of as naturally his, almost his possession, had betrayed him for a trumped-up foreigner! He stopped at Katara's simple whitewashed oak door and listened. She was humming a little tune to herself while she took a shower, and she sounded so happy, that Aang almost had second thoughts.(key word there being almost)Aang decided to scope out his competition before telling Katara about what Alex had said after she left. He rushed through the labyrinth of passages inside the ship, while the embryos of a plan were beginning to form in his mind.

...

Buckingham Palace, London

The three MP's (Members of Parliament) were waiting outside the Assembly Room for permission to be allowed in. The Assembly Room's purpose was basically the only place in the world in 1868 where you could make a conference call. Queen Victoria (the actual queen, not the ship) had it built just two weeks after the invention of the telephone in 1859 by genius Samuel J. Alexander. Now she could call with up to eleven other people anywhere that telephone lines had been laid, which was pretty much anywhere in the extensive territories of the British Empire. After what seemed like ages, the MP's were finally allowed in through the ornately carved doors, where they bowed to the Queen, already seated on her throne, and then rushed forth to the exquisitely wrought teak table where gold embossed silver telephones awaited.

The Queen had called this conference to hear a progress report from her PAEF, who had contacted a naval base in the South Pacific to inform them that the were back from the rent in reality that had just popped up in the middle of the South Pacific in the form of two pillars of sapphire-coloured crystal. The Queen's telephone began to ring, and she instructed the MP's

"Wait until I pick up and exchange courtesies with the good commodore. When I have informed him that this is a party-line call, then you three may pick up. Understood?"

"Yes, your majesty," they answered in unison.

"Good." she said as one, shall we say, "larger" arm reached somewhat languidly for the ornate handset.

"Hello?" she asked

All the MP's could hear was muffled voice coming from the Queen's left side.

"I am well thank you. You are aware that this is a party-line call?" she asked in her most imperious tone.

Another muffled utterance from the queen's ear. The Queen nodded to the three impatient MP's, and then, in unison like the factory workers two of them employed, they reached for the adorned silver headsets.

"Greetings Commodore." said the skinny MP. (who resembled a toothpick with a head)

"Top of the morning to you, Commodore!" said the jolly fat MP. (who somewhat resembled St. Nicholas girth-wise, with a bit o' the Buddha thrown in)

"You have a report for us, Commodore?" asked the grumpy fat MP, all pleasantries dispensed with.(who resembled a grossly obese bulldog)

"Hello gentlemen. I do have a report to deliver to you three and her majesty." the Commodore said

"Please continue," Queen Victoria commanded.

"Thank you your majesty, gentlemen. As you know, we have recently been through this rent in reality dubbed the 'Pacific Anomaly'. On the other side we encountered a world similar to ours, but with some strange creatures. We have three examples in our hold, plus some locals who agreed to come along."

"Locals! How did you communicate with them?" the Queen asked in surprise.

"They spoke English, your majesty."

"English!" all four of those in the room exclaimed in surprise.

"What do you mean in that they spoke English?" the Queen asked in a near-total state of shock.

"They spoke English with us, your majesty. That's all I mean by it. They appear to have a resemblance to the Chinese." the Commodore said in his most polite voice.

"Oh. You are to bring the specimens and the locals to London five days before the tenth of May." she commanded in her "Empress of India" voice.

"Why before the tenth your majesty?" the Commodore asked in a puzzled tone.

"The Third Annual Great Exhibition of course! They are to be in London so they can be seen as a symbol of Britain's power! We are a world-spanning empire, and it is only fit that we look as such! Understood?" she demanded.

"Of course your Majesty!" he exclaimed in his drill-sergeant voice.

"Good. Farewell Commodore." she said punctually. She turned to the MP's and said" That is all. You may go now."

"Thank you Majesty." they said in unison as they backed out of the Assembly Room.

...

Glastonbury Farm, Cornwall, 3 kilometres east of the Imperial Wireless-Wire Network Telecommunications Center

"Ahh!" the woman exclaimed in a joyful voice, her long, fat, braided, and pink pigtails bouncing up and down. "We've got it boys! The Dola Pirate Gang is back in business!"

"Yes!"

"Woo-Hoo!"

"Hot-Dog!"

"Yippee!"

Dola's sons yelled with exuberance at the news. The feared Dola Pirate Gang was a group of airship pirates that mainly consisted of Dola and her 22-27 year-old sons, plus a few hired hands. Unbeknown to Queen Victoria, or any member of the British Government, Dola had been listening in via wiretap. She and her gang had stormed the Glastonbury's house, tied them up, and tapped the telephone wire running through their farm, to listen in on the PAEF's dispatch. She turned to her gang and yelled,

"Boys! We're going to the Great Exhibition!"

"Why mum?" one of her boys asked.

"Call me captain! And because I told you too!"

"What about those people in the farmhouse?" another one asked.

"I'm a generous, caring woman, so we'll untie them and give them a few pounds to keep 'em quiet, and if they don't, we blow their brains out! Understood!?"

"Yes mum!" they chorused

"Call me Captain!"

...

The Queen Victoria, 6,000 Kilometres South West of the Nicaragua Canal

Aang found Alex's cabin near the stern. He listened at his door, and didn't hear a peep, so he opened it and peered inside. It looked like a typical crew cabin, small, with one bathroom. He decided to leave a little present in case Alex somehow did get Katara to come back to his cabin with him. He summoned a ball of air and encased it in a form of chi he only had barely discovered, then stuck it in the pillowcase. The next person to put pressure on that pillow was going to be blown off the bed, and more likely than not, through the ceiling. He then rushed out of the cabin to the cafeteria, where dinner was about to be served.

As soon as Aang reached the cafeteria, the cook's voice shouted over the intercom

"It's fish and chips tonight!"

This was immediately followed by the sound of a stampede of Brits hungry for a taste of home. Up on C deck, Alex went to Katara's door and knocked. Katara came out, and Alex's jaw nearly fell through the damn floor! She was dressed in a sexy sealskin that accentuated her perfect tan and beautiful curves, and her hair was made up in such a way that it flowed and fell like a river changing into a waterfall., but the best part was the eyes. The slight bit of eyeliner she had put on showed her sparkling sapphire eyes in a way that they seemed to shine right through Alex. Alex himself was wearing his sporty tan flight-suit and wore his flight-cap at a jaunty angle, and was practically drooling with excitement.

They preceded arm in arm to the cafeteria, to a four-person table where Alex and his friends usually sat, but his friends had cleared out for him. They proceeded to the service counter, where they received their heaping plates of salted, vinegary cod, and their lovely golden chips. (A.K.A. fries for my American readers) Once they got their plates, they went to go sit at the table. They gazed into each other's eyes (well Katara did, but Alex's eyes were focusing, shall we say, in the more southerly regions)

Meanwhile, Aang was watching this whole affair from two tables over. He was furious with the way Alex was sizing her up, and with the way that Katara could not take her eyes off him, and he was about to explode! After about twenty minutes, Katara and Alex started to lean closer, closer, closserrrr, BANG! Aang exploded with a great blast of air that blew Alex out of his seat and into the service counter, which tipped over, spilling the fish, chips, and a colossal tub of malt vinegar all over the tiled floor. Alex tried to claw his way up, but he failed and landed on his aching rump. After the ringing of the metal counter had died down, it was as silent as the grave. Katara turned to face Aang, ready to spew out all sorts of obscenities, but then she drooped her shoulders, covered her face, and fled the cafeteria, weeping loudly. The crowd had turned to watch that whole display, and when they turned back to face Aang, they saw that he had fled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Exhibition

May 5th,

Crystal Palace, Great Exhibition, London

"Raise that banner there!" the foreman shouted in his gruff northern accent.

"Right!" the workers shouted back.

Preparation was in full swing for the Annual London Great Exhibition that was to be held in 5 days. People prepared for this event a month ahead, with frenzied construction of pavilions, frantic jostling for spots in the Crystal Palace, (the centre of the exhibition) and mad unloading of scientific experiments, exotic animals, and all sorts of building materials. Exhibition Park was closed to the public until the opening of the Exhibition, but with enough money you could slip right past the entrances. This is what Dola and her gang was doing to scout out the location of the PAEF exhibit, and they were also calculating the best possible way to kidnap the locals.

"Mum, how are we going to snatch them?" one of Dola's sons asked whiningly.

"Call me captain! And keep your voice down! There are workers about!" she said in a hushed tone, "We'll wait until the first day of the exhibition closes, and when they slip out the back to be taken to the hotel, we follow the car, shoot out its' tires, then make off with the hostages!"

"Oh." he said in a hushed whisper. "Do you know the lay of the land by now mum?

"Call me captain dammit! Now quit your whining, and get back to the car!" she whispered angrily.

...

The Queen Victoria, Greenwich-on-Thames, UK

Aang was worried. After the incident two weeks ago, Katara had been giving him the mother of all cold shoulders. He couldn't understand it! He had explained what Alex had said after she had left, and that had at least stopped her from calling him a "Mangy, no-good, son-of-a-bitch" for the 45th time. Of course it didn't help that the trap that Aang had set for Alex before dinner was suddenly activated while he was explaining himself, so that Alex had come catapulting up through the floor and fell right back down 2 floors on the bed, breaking it in two. Aang sighed. Women! Do them a favour and they hate you for life. Sheesh.

Up on deck, Sokka and Toph were standing together watching the sunset over the London Skyline. (Well Sokka was anyway. Toph was merely feeling the diminishing warmth.) Sokka said,

"That was weird what Aang did, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I think I know why he did it." she said.

"Why?!" Sokka asked in his excited voice.

"Don't you get it? Aang is in love with Katara! I heard what that boy Alex said after Katara accepted his dinner invitation. It was nasty! He was just trying to protect her."

"Ohhh." (Insert hallelujah chorus) "I get it! Aang has been acting weird around Katara ever since we left the North Pole!"

"Yes! It penetrates the thickest skull in the entire universe! Hallelujah!" she threw her hands in the air in mock celebration.

"Hey! That's not nice!" he said in a wounded voice.

A gruff voice from the loudspeakers interrupted their conversation,

"Crew! We'll each London in about half an hour or so, and all of you who received shore passes this morning may disembark. I need Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to the bridge. That is all."

...

The Bridge of the Queen Victoria

"Hello all of you!" Commodore Wilberforce barked. "I am just letting you know that you need to practise for the Great Exhibition. Toph, Aang, and Katara, You need to practise your bending! Sokka!"

"Yes sir!" Sokka snapped

"You will deliver summaries of the war, history, and of your basic culture to the crowds at the Exhibition.'

"Alright."

"Good. We land in twenty minutes, so look sharp!"

...

London, May 10th, Exhibition Park

The Queen slowly rose from her ornate golden throne to overlook the huge crowd that had gathered in the Crystal Palace for the Third Exhibition. She adjusted the microphone stand in front of her and proceeded with her speech.

"Thank you for attending this great science exhibition in the glorious city of London." she started "We present to you, as a gift of the British Empire to the world, this third annual Great Exhibition of culture and science in hopes that it will further educate you about your world. I pray that this exhibition will provide you with further knowledge and be a godly interaction between the people assembled here and science." short and sweet. Cheers and applause erupted in the chamber, and the crowd rushed to the exhibits. The most popular of them was, of course, the Pacific Anomaly exhibit. They had a platypus-bear, a flying-squid, and Appa, who Aang rode around the chamber.

People watched Katara's water-bending with amazement, wondering how in the world she could do that, Aang air-bended to an uproarious crowd that threw coins onto the stage after the performance, and Toph surprised her crowd by lifting the earth underneath their feet fifty feet in the air. People listened to Sokka's enthusiastic tales of their adventures, and his description of the different cultures of the four nations. Elsewhere at the exhibition, people browsed through the technological achievements of the greatest scientists of the age, gasped in disgust at a recently discovered Tongan Tarantula as big as a small sheep, and marvelled in wonder at the Crystal Palace itself, a steel and glass-work triumph of Victorian engineering. Unbeknown by any member of the PAEF, Dola and her boys were also there, thinking on how they were going to snatch the Avatar and his companions from their car.

"I didn't know they could control air!" a bewhiskered son of Dola's said nervously.

"I doesn't matter! Their weird little 'powers' are based off martial arts moves! Once they are bound, they lose their power!" Dola yelled.

"But mum, what if they can slice through the ropes?" another son asked

"CALL ME CAPTAIN! And we'll be using handcuffs, so all of you quit your whinin'!"

"Yes Mum!" they answered in unison.

"Call me Captain!"

The day was drawing to a close, and the end of day fireworks show began. The fireworks display was the stuff of miracles, with massive explosions, colourful sparkles, and fiery pinwheels. The show halted for a moment as a loudspeaker rang out over the crowd.

"Now, Ladies and Gents, please turn your attentions to the south-west corner of the park!"

That was Aang's cue to leap into the air, and do a spectacular move of fire-bending. He started from his central point and then circled outward trailing fire all the way, until he reached the outside of the circle and sent a massive wave of fire into the centre, which exploded. It was spectacular. The huge assembled crowd broke into cheers and applause, and some 25 thousand people gave Aang a standing ovation. After the applause died down, a pleasant female voice sounded over the loudspeaker,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the exhibition is closing. Please leave via the designated exits."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kidnapped!

"I want that boy!" Dola yelled as she double-timed it to the back of the Crystal Palace, her seven sons trailing behind. They raced to around to the PAEF service exit and waited for the Avatar to emerge. Inside, Aang approached Katara hesitantly, and asked

"Did you like my fire-bending?"

(Cricket sounds here)

"Katara?"

"Go away Aang." she said quietly.

"What?" he asked in disbelief

"Go away!"

A clatter interrupted their heart-crushing conversation. It was Commodore Wilberforce, who spotted them and said

"There you are! Great show out there tonight Aang! You too Katara! Anyway, let's be off!"

They followed him sullenly through the back room, and out the back way. As they walked out of the back, Katara suddenly felt a fleshy arm circle round her neck and yank her back!

"Don't either of you move or the girl's brains get splattered against the wall!" Dola shouted as she held a revolver to Katara's head.

"Easy there!" Commodore Wilberforce pleaded with Dola.

"You! Arrow-head! Don't fight these cuffs, otherwise your girlfriend's going to have a lovely bullet-hole in her head!"

One of Dola's hired hands came up to Aang and cuffed him with trisodium-cobalt, a composite of steel that lent itself easily to circular shapes, therefore useful for making handcuffs, and although they didn't know this, cut off bending ability. Dola clipped handcuffs on Katara, then promptly whirled around and shot Commodore Wilberforce with her canister gun, which shot explosive or gas canisters at great velocity. Dola had shot a gas canister at him, which left a lovely bruise on his chest and knocked him out with the chloroform gas. She turned around and clamped a chloroform-soaked cloth on Katara's mouth, then Aang's, then turned the key in the ignition of her steam-powered Wilberforce '62. (Commodore Wilberforce's uncle was the owner of the second largest automobile company in the UK) She yelled to her boys,

"Get in! We've got him!"

"Yes!" they all shouted. They piled in to the green and gold automobile with the purple velvet seating. The car roared as it sped out of the Exhibition's service gate and into the city.

You wonder where the hell Sokka and Toph were while this was going on? Well, they were at the opposite end of the park, admiring the boats speeding away from the dock. They had been sharing moments like this more often recently, as the pair was growing closer.

"We should probably get back to the exhibit." Sokka said softly.

"Yeah," Toph replied just as softly.

"Well," Sokka said.

"Well," Toph repeated. Neither of them was particularly anxious to leave, but Toph that it would be wise to move, so she did. They walked back in silence across the near-empty exhibition grounds to the exhibit. It was curiously quiet, except for Appa's groaning. Sokka walked through and shouted

"Aang! Katara! Commodore Wilberforce?" the only answer was a muffled groan from the back. Sokka and Toph walked to the back and saw the Commodore, struggling to rise from the ground. Sokka ran over to help him up, and once Toph figured out what was going on, she rushed to help the man as well. Once the Commodore got back up, he told Sokka and Toph all that had happened. Once he finished his story, Sokka burst out,

"We have to find them!"

....

Telephone Booth Outside Westminster Abbey

Dola deposited ten pence in the slot and rung up Buckingham Palace.

"Palace offices, this is Amelia speaking."

"I need to talk to the Queen."

"For what reason?"

"To negotiate a hostage deal."

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"Wait one moment please." Amelia set the phone down then rushed to the Queen's bedroom. She knocked and then walked in, "Your Majesty?" she asked softly.

"What?" the Queen asked in a squeaky voice.

"Telephone for you ma'am. They say they have hostages."

"Oh! I'll be right there!" she said as she rose from her colossal bed. After a few minutes, the Queen came bustling down the corridor to pick up the telephone call. "Hello?"

"Hello your majesty, this is Dola."

"Dola! We gave you an amnesty deal! You promised you would go straight!" the Queen burst out.

"Well, we want some more money and another amnesty."

"What makes you think I would give that to you, an air-pirate?"

"We are in possession of two of the locals who agreed to come along with the PAEF."

"Oh my god!"

"We want twenty thousand pounds and total amnesty, otherwise we'll find a suitable public place to kill these two young guests of yours. I can see it now! 'Total Break-Down of Law and Order!' 'London in Chaos!'. Twenty Thousand pounds better be delivered to the Bank of England by May 30th, along with a signed letter of amnesty. Understood your majesty?"

"I will have no part in this terrorism. Good Night Mrs. Dola." she slammed the phone down. "Amelia!"

"Yes your majesty?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Phone Mr. Churchill. I need to discuss a crucial matter of state. Also phone the Royal Air Force, tell them to look for a brown small dirigible by the name of the Tiger Moth."

"Your majesty, in regards to the Tiger Moth, what are the Air Force's orders?"

"They are to board the ship, and arrest all on board."

"Yes your majesty."

...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Change of Plans

Wilberforce House, Chancery Lane, London

"How are we going to get them back?" Sokka demanded of the Commodore.

"I don't know! In forty minutes we'll head down to Buckingham Palace to discuss the matter with the Queen." he said anxiously.

"Is she the highest authority?" Sokka asked worryingly. Sokka was thinking of the way the Earth Kingdom was organised, with its' 2 kings.

"Of course she is! She is part of a line stretching 800 years back to William the Conqueror!" he protested vehemently.

"Good."

...

Buckingham Palace, forty-two and a half minutes later.

Sokka and the Commodore stood all fidgety in front of the audience room. Toph had developed a splitting headache, and had decided to stay behind at the house. After a few minutes, a taciturn butler opened the gilded teak doors to admit the twitchy pair. They observed the proper rules of conduct by bowing their heads at the door, then coming up to the ever-sober Queen and bowing from the waist. After all that was done and said, the Queen invited them to sit on a couch opposite her throne.

"Now, gentlemen. I do believe we have some very serious business to attend to." she told them severely.

"Yes your majesty. This young man is a local and a friend of the hostages." the Commodore said.

"Well, I am deeply sorry about this turn of events. The woman who kidnapped your friends is a woman named Dola. She is a feared Airship Pirate who seems to be in the hostage business now. I have discussed the matter with Prime Minister Churchill and Air Commander Chamberlain, head of the British Royal Air Force. We agreed on a course of action that may be upsetting to you. "

"What is it?" Sokka asked fearfully.

"Well we decided that it is no longer a personal matter, but a matter of state. We have decided that unless there has been a successful rescue before the twenty-seventh, we will aim to kill the gang and their hostages if necessary."

"What!?"

"We cannot afford to let Dola execute them publicly, it would be a severe blow to the government's credibility!"

"You can't kill Aang! He's the Avatar! Or Katara! She's my sister!" Sokka shouted.

"Mr. Sokka! Contain yourself!" the Queen reprimanded. "I will do everything in my power to effect a rescue, but I cannot promise that we won't open fire on the Tiger Moth if we see fit to do so. It is up to you and Mr. Wilberforce to rescue your friends before the twenty-seventh. My government will do everything it can to assist you once I give you these Imperial Writs."

"What is an Imperial Writ?" Sokka asked.

"It makes you a temporary special agent of the government. You get free lodging, money, transportation and that sort of thing."

"Thank you your majesty." Mr. Wilberforce said quickly.

...

The Airship Tiger Moth, 80 Kilometres North of London.

"Miserable Fog!" Dola cursed as she guided the Tiger Moth through the mist. "Where are those no-good sons of mine with my dinner! I'm hungry!" she yanked down a speaking tube that lead to the galley and shouted "You miserable piles of sheep dung! WHERE IS MY PORK ROAST?!"

There was a clatter as one of her boys picked up the speaking tube. "Coming right up mother!"

"DAMN IT! CALL ME CAPTAIN!" she shouted as she worked herself into a tizzy. "Sometimes those sons of mine...miserable no-good rubbish...." she grumbled. She picked up another speaking tube that lead to the engine room and yelled to her husband "GERALD!"

Another clatter from the tube, then a more constant clatter of the engine room. "WHAT?"

"THE PORK ROAST IS ALMOST READY!"

"THE WHAT IS TOAST EDDY?"

"I SAID 'THE PORK ROAST IS READY!"

"WHAT?"

"THE! PORK! ROAST! IS! READY!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YA!"

"YOU MISERABLE TWO-TIMING SON-OF-A-BITCH! JUST GET UP HERE!"

"ALL RIGHT!" After they had finished that ridiculous exchange, one of Dola's sons poked his head in the door.

"Mum, do you want the pork roast? In here or in your cabin?"

"First of all, CALL ME CAPTAIN! Second of all, does it look there's a table in here?"

"No."

"Then, may I ask, WHY DO YOU THINK I WANT MY PORK ROAST IN HERE?"

"Habit?"

Dola sighed, then said "Shut up and bring my pork roast you worthless heap of rubbish!"

"Yes mum."

"CALL ME CAPTAIN!" she furiously bellowed. She opened the cockpit's door and made her way over the freezing, windy walkway to the main section of the ship, and opened her cabin door. Her husband was already seated, dressed in his tuxedo, with the steaming pork roast in front of him.

"Ah! There you are dear! I was beginning to get worried!"

"You needn't be. You should be worried about those harebrained sons of yours."

"Don't you think you're to hard on them dear?" he asked quietly.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" he sweetly said.

...

Brig of the Tiger Moth

"Katara?" Aang asked.

"What Aang?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"For what? I was the only one who was being a jerk."

"No, I was being one too. All you were trying to do was protect me, and I was ungrateful"

"Really?"

"Yes Aang." Aang didn't say anything further, but he was practically bursting with joy. Katara had finally realised that he was trying to do her a favour, not hurt her! Even in the cold little cell above the Airships' Buzzer hangar, he felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A Search Gone Wrong

"So what did the Queen say?" Toph asked once Sokka and the Commodore once they got back. Sokka filled Toph in about all that had happened at the palace while Mr. Wilberforce made some travel arrangements. Once Sokka finished, Toph burst out,

"They can't kill them!"

"I know! The Queen was worried about the government's credibility or some such thing." Sokka said.

"Toph! Sokka! Get packed! Our airship to Glasgow leaves in a hour and a half."

"Where's Glasgow?" Toph asked.

"In Scotland. Dola's rumoured to have a hide-out nearby, so I figured we should start there."

"All right! Let's go!" Sokka yelled with exuberance as he bounded up the staircase to the room he had been staying in. Toph followed him up the stairs, and in ten minutes they were packed and downstairs. Mr. Wilberforce led them out to his car, and they sped off towards London Heathrow airfield. Once they arrived, they showed their Imperial Writs and were taken straight to the Queen of Glasgow, an smaller airship that made regular runs between London and Glasgow. Most non-cargo airships only made runs to Transoceanic destinations, the closest being Dublin or Paris, but since there wasn't a direct railway line between London and Glasgow, it was thought profitable by the biggest transportation company in the world, Imperial Transit Ltd., owned by Prime Minister Churchill. The 200-foot long airship skimmed the ground, tugging at its' mooring masts. The airship scooted up to the boarding tower, and all Sokka, Toph, and Mr. Wilberforce had to do was flash the Imperial Writs and they instantly were allowed on board.

The inside of the Queen of Glasgow was luxurious. It had no cabins, seeing as it was only a four and a half hour flight, but it had a lot of luxurious Victorian couches. Sokka and Toph stayed near the bow of the airship, while Commodore Wilberforce went astern. Sokka and Toph sat on a love seat in front of the window. After about thirty minutes of waiting, the Queen of Glasgow rose off the ground and turned north towards Scotland.

As Toph and Sokka watched London slipped by below their feet, Toph found herself leaning in to Sokka, enjoying his briny smell. She leaned all the way in, and Sokka found himself putting his arm around her soft shoulders. As the airship left London behind, Toph said softly,

"I'm scared Sokka."

"Why?"

"I'm scared for Aang, and for Katara. Nothing in this world makes sense! Why would some woman who doesn't even know how important the Avatar is, kidnap him? Why?" she started to cry softly on Sokka's shoulder. Sokka gave her a quick squeeze and said,

"It will all be all right."

...

4 1/2 hours later, Glasgow Airfield

"Let's get moving then!" the Commodore said. They disembarked from the airship to a taxi waiting outside. Mr. Wilberforce gave the driver twenty pounds to go to Dunnecragy, a small village near where Dola was supposed to be hiding out.

...

Pirate Hideout, 5 kilometres outside of Dunnecragy Village

It was a foreboding spot. Perched on the very top of Dunn's Crag, the house and barn overhanging the cliff seemed so out of place among the Scottish mist, but there placement was no accident. Built by Dola's grandmother in 1793 for the very purpose of air piracy, it was outfitted with a large hangar and tanks for hydrium gas.

"All right, let's get a few things straight." Dola was instructing Aang and Katara on the rules of their captivity. "First things first. You are not to leave this house. You are already handcuffed, but we'll put a ball and chain on your ankles if you try to escape. We'll feed you three squares a day. Got it?"

"Yes Captain." Katara said. Then Dola felt odd. She couldn't figure it out, until she realised that she loved being called "Captain". She felt touched, but it was short lived.

"Don't get smart with me! Now get back to your room! Both of you!" as they left she rounded on her eldest son and yelled at him "Why can't you get things straight like that lovely young girl and call me captain!"

"Yes mum!"

"CALL ME CAPTAIN!!!!" She stormed out of the room to her Spartan room upstairs.

"I wouldn't bother her again today, boys! Now cook us all up some grub!" Gerald told them.

"Yes Pa!" they answered in unison. Upstairs, Aang and Katara were happy to have a warm room with a fireplace, and Aang was struggling to figure out how the hell to use matches. He finally got it and lit the fire, which crackled into life in the stone hearth. The door opened, and Dola strode in with two plates heaped with spaghetti.

"I'd hate to see such fine young people such as you go hungry, so eat up!" she said in a surprisingly motherly voice. "Well don' just stare at it! Eat it!" They were quite shocked and continued to just keep staring at the heaping plates of spaghetti. "What's the matter? Nothing wrong with the spaghetti! Don't worry, I didn't poison it!" she proved her point by taking a healthy bite out of the meatball on Aang's plate. After that display, Aang and Katara set into the spaghetti with great enthusiasm. After Katara had taken a bite, she turned to Dola and said,

"Thank you captain,". Damn and blast! Dola got that stupid warm and fuzzy feeling again. She was irritated how much she liked these kids. She was coddling them for god's sakes! Dola stormed out of the room to go shout at her feather-brained sons again.

...

The Dog and Dragon Inn, High Street, Dunnecragy Village

"Ye are ginna take a left on Charch Lan and go up the ole 'igh strait 'til ye hit the village end. Thin ye are ginna take a left on the path up to the crag. Thats were ye are ginna find them pirates." the bartender said in the thickest Scottish Accent to ever be on the earth.

"Thank you sir. Good day to you." Mr. Wilberforce said as he flipped him a pound.

"Thank ye kind ser! Watch oot for a part o' the path that makes an awful shawp turn o'er the crags edge, and in this mist, one wee misstep could lead to ye shaking 'ands wit good ole Saint Peter!"

"Thank you. Goodbye!" Once they were outside the pub, Sokka, Toph, and Mr. Wilberforce followed the kilted Scotsman's directions to the pirate crag. The misty village was quiet and foreboding, and high street was muddier than wettest swamp. Once they started ascending the crag, Toph brought up the obvious need for strategy.

"How are we going to get Aang and Katara out of there?"

"I think we should sneak around the back, and assuming it's a stone house, Toph can earth-bend the wall out and.."

"I can't earth-bend here." Toph interrupted.

"What? Why?" Sokka asked in total shock.

"This isn't the same earth. I can't bend it." they all were silent as they walked through the heavy fog and contemplated how this would affect their plans. The fog grew very thick, and suddenly a yell broke the foggy calm! Unfortunately for Commodore Wilberforce, he had not understood the Scotsman's warning, and had neglected to look for the sharp end, and fell 300 feet to his death.

....


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Stockholm Syndrome, and a Surprise from the South.

Zhao Manor, Katoshima Island, Fire Nation

"Admiral Zhao! A report from a ship assigned to destroy Earth-Nation shipping to Kyoshi!" a messenger panted, having run up all the steps from the sea to the mountaintop manor.

"What is it?!" the Admiral asked angrily. Admiral Zhao had decide to take a rest after his humiliating defeat at the North Pole, which had almost cost him his command, so great was the anger of the Fire-Lord.

The messenger fumbled with the document in his hand until he had it fully extended. "When pursuing a trading junk, the Yong-Dia encountered two enormous crystal pillars in the middle of the Sea of Kyoshi. When it had passed through these pillars, it observed an island that was not there before. It passed back through the pillars again, and the island vanished. They sailed through the pillar again, and made land on the island to make sure it wasn't a mirage." Admiral Zhao was interested at these turns of events.

"What did they make of it?"

"They think they may have found a portal to another world, admiral."

"Really? Hmm...." he mulled it over. A whole new realm for the Fire-Lord to conquer and make his own, and a vast territory for Zhao to govern. Sounded good to him. Zhao instructed the messenger to tell his crew to ready the ship for departure to the capital.

...

Dunn's Crag, Scotland

In a cruel twist of fate, the fog cleared just long enough to reveal Commodore Wilberforce's broken body on the rocks below. Sokka stared in disbelief, while Toph figured out what the yell meant. She could feel the edge, and had been about to say something right before he fell. She broke into great racking sobs, and Sokka ran over to comfort her.

"I could have said something! Just two seconds earlier!" she sobbed loudly. Sokka held her close and tight against his well-sculptured chest, and Toph's sobbing diminished. Once Toph pulled herself together, they started hiking up the crag to the house. Once they crossed the final bit, they knocked on the old wooden door. After a few moments, one of Dola's numerous sons answered the door.

"What do you want?" he snarled.

"We want to speak with Dola. Is she here?"

"Let me go check." he let the door fall shut behind him as he moved deeper in the house. "Ma! Ma! Are you around?"

"Call me captain! What is it?" she asked.

"Some kids at the doorway want to talk with you." he said.

"Some what?"

"Some kids."

"Great. More runts to be sweet about." Dola grumbled as she walked towards the door. She threw it open and saw Sokka and Toph. "What do you want?" she looked immensely big in the doorway, with her blue dress and hat, and pink pigtails waving in the wind.

"Are Aang and Katara here?"

"How would you runts know about them?"

"We're their friends."

"Really?" suddenly sweet as sugar. "Come in and have some chocolate little children." she grabbed them both by their collars and yanked them inside the house. "Boys! Grab the handcuffs!" she yelled down the hall way as she held the struggling pair.

"Why mum?"

"Call me captain! And because I told you to!" she took a pause and laughed a deep throaty laugh. A few moments later, her boys came running down the hallway with the handcuffs and cuffed Sokka and Toph. "You can go upstairs to the room where your friends are. Boys, lead them up. And tell Katara to whip up that stew she made the other day for dinner."

The boys lead Sokka and Toph upstairs to Aang and Katara's room, and when they opened the door, there they were, in mid-kiss. When they heard the door open, they threw themselves apart. Dola's boys look devastated when they saw Katara locked in Aang's arms, as most of them had a crush on Katara. One of the boys conveyed the message about the stew while giving a mean look to Aang. Once Dola's boys had left, all four of them ran forward into a group hug that all of them were so glad to share.

"Have you been treated well?" was the first question out of Sokka's mouth.

"Yes! Dola has been treating us very well, and I think she likes us." Katara replied.

"Aang, I'm going to have to talk with you mano-a-mano." Sokka told Aang.

Katara stood up and said "I better get started on the stew. The boys get awful hungry!" she walked out of the room.

"How often do you get food around here?" Sokka asked.

"Five times a day! They eat a lot!" Aang told them. "And Dola's always ordering someone to make a snack, so you never go hungry."

"Sweet!"

The door opened and Gerald came strolling in his engineer's tank top and dirty work pants.

"Aang! I need your help crawling into the engine again!" he told Aang. He turned and saw Sokka and Toph and said "Hello! Have we become an orphanage?" he laughed a deep belly laugh. "Heeheehee.. ah, it makes me laugh to see you young people around again!" He and Aang turned and left for the hangar.

"Toph?" Sokka asked.

"Yes Sokka?"

"For a while now, I've had some... 'feelings' for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've had these for a while now, but I haven't known how to te-." he did not get to finish that particular sentence, as Toph had leaned in and kissed him full on the lips with a lot of passion. They shared this kiss for only five seconds, but it felt like five millennia, with nothing but unbending love filling it up. They broke apart smiling. Dola's bellow sounded through the house and hangar, calling,

"GRUBS DONE!" this was immediately followed by a stampede of hungry residents of the house, eager for the great grub Katara had been serving up. They gathered around a huge knife-worn table piled high with all sorts of hearty foods that were decimated by eight ravenous men, one ravenous teenager, and three just-hungry teenagers. But the person who put the most food away was Dola, packing in an entire half of a pig in just seven bites! The atmosphere was one of raucous enjoyment, and the four hostages at the table were suffering a horrible case of Stockholm Syndrome.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

An Outpost Destroyed

Bridge of the Fire-Ship Grand Zhao, 10 Kilometres North of the Anomaly Gate, Sea of Kyoshi

"Admiral Zhao, the final message from the Fire-Lord." the lowly messenger intoned

"Give it to me!" he said, all pleasantries dispensed with.

"Yes sir." the messenger said before running off.

Admiral Zhao read the message.

Admiral Zhao,

You are authorised to pass through the Anomaly Gates and claim all territories on the other side of it for the Fire Nation. You are commanded to collect a tribute from any settlement you encounter. If they resist, take all they have, burn their houses, and seize them as slaves for our nation!

-Supreme Fire-Lord Ozai

"Men!" the Admiral shouted.

"Yessir?" they shouted in response.

"Signal the fleet, we are going to cross through the Anomaly Gates!"

"Yessir!" The ship jumped into action, with the helmsman giving the orders to stoke up the engines, the signalers grabbing their great flags and running outside to relay the orders of the petulant Admiral. The twenty-two ships on the expedition passed single-file through the pillars and steamed towards Sherman Isle.

(some facts about Sherman's Isle: Population;3,000, Only Town; New Glasgow, Interesting Sites; Hydrogen Refinery, Munitions Storehouse, and the Crown Jewel Resort.) Admiral Zhao was the first to spot New Glasgow, and he told his assembled fire-benders,

"Torch those tall tanks and that warehouse first, then see if they'll cave in to our demands." You have to wonder what Zhao was thinking, don't you? Was it 'Lets torch the only two buildings that have the huge signs warning against use of fire near them! Won't that be fun!'? Probably not, but when the first ship approached the munitions warehouse and fire-benders poured out to incinerate the warehouse, the townspeople must have thought that. The warehouse and the hydrogen refinery, needless to say, blew up in a gargantuan fire-ball that incinerated three Fire Nation ships and did hardly any damage to the town, just warned them that there was danger nearby. The garrison mobilised, the towns three cargo airships were pressed into service by the populace, used to evacuate as many women and children as could be accommodated to South Faeroe Naval base. Admiral Zhao did not even bother seeing if they would surrender, the immediate shelling of his ship giving him answer enough. The dark grey ships pulled up to the cheery town quay and began disgorging fire-benders to attack the colourful wooden houses of this remote holiday town. As they advanced along the pier, a series of popping noises were heard before the fire-benders would suddenly convulse and drop dead where they stood. Still they charged, and soon enough the colourful little town began to burn. The English fought bravely, and with better technology, but the Fire Nation had the advantage of numbers and the little matter of being able to shoot fireballs out of their arms. The English would have likely all died if they had not retreated. The Captain of the Garrison, George Faeroe, cried in the heat of battle,

"To the hills my countrymen! We have fought them on the beaches and landing grounds, and in the streets, but now we shall fight them from the hills!" The British fled New Glasgow, and Admiral Zhao planted the Fire Lord's Banner in the middle of the fast-burning city. His soldiers looted a few rich homes outside town and burnt them down, and so Admiral Zhao prepared to return and request an even greater force to conquer these lands. He boarded his flagship and they turned around and headed home.

...

Airship King William, 300 metres above the former site of New Glasgow.

The sentries relayed the dire news to London via telegram. The message went as following:

Urgent news STOP. New Glasgow attacked by large force from other side of the Pacific Anomaly STOP. Militia was defeated after pitched fighting, women and children evacuated to South Faeroe STOP. Request that Royal Navy be sent to ward off further incursions STOP. This is urgent STOP.

Of course this story was the biggest headline all over the papers, and up north, some clever air-pirates were figuring out how to become saviours of their country instead of kidnapping thieves.

Number 10, Downing Street, London

"An entire fleet of the Royal Navy!" the Lord-Admiral's eyes were nearly popping out of his head in surprise. "You cannot be serious! A few savages in rusty ships do not deserve the entire third fleet!"

"I think you will find that they do!" The prime-minister roared. "They had twenty plus ships all armed with catapults and capable of carrying a few hundred of those fire-throwing chaps! He will come back with more, and I have no intention of more innocent towns being burnt by these pirates!"

"So ask for a division of the fleet, not the whole goddamn thing!"

"I will have the third fleet!"

"You will not!"

"I will take this to the War Ministry, which will certainly agree with me!"

"Ha! The War Minister is an old friend! He'll laugh you out of the War Ministry!"

"Yes, but who brought him up through the ranks from lowly strategical advisor to his current post? Who signs his cheques? Not you!"

"I refuse to give you the Third Fleet of Her Majesty's Navy unless ordered to do so by an Act of Parliament or the Queen herself!" he yelled as he stormed out of the house to his car, which sped off. The Prime Minister was very angry at the Lord Admiral for his blatant refusal to hand over the Third Fleet even after the dire telegram about New Glasgow reached London. He ordered his clerk to make an appointment with the Queen to get her to command the Lord Admiral to station the Third Fleet at the Anomaly Gates. On top of all that was the fact that the centrepieces of the Great Exhibition were still held hostage somewhere, and the deadline was fast approaching.

"The Prime Minister is always the first to get blamed in a bad situation, the last to get mentioned in a good one." he counseled himself.

...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Quite a Sight

Dola's Farm, Dunn's Crag, Scotland

Dola was thinking about the kids as she wolfed down a "snack" of three very large mince-pies. She was coming to the realisation that she could never harm these kids, and that made her frustrated.

"No good if you can't show them you mean business! But those kids are the only ones around here who call me captain! I couldn't raise a finger against anyone of them! Well, Sokka deserves a good smack, but that's it!" she ranted to nobody in particular. She had also been contemplating what to do as far as the New Glasgow situation. She was thinking that if she assisted the government in fighting them, then she could get an amnesty! Then she could let those kids go, and everybody would be happy. She picked up the speaking tube to the kitchen and yelled,

"GERALD! GET UP HERE!"

"All right!" No need to shout!" he said anxiously. He bustled up the stairs to their spartan room and walked in.

"We obviously cannot carry through with the ransom threats." she said bluntly.

"No we cannot."

"So what do we do? We are in possession of hostages and our amnesty has been repealed! How can we get out of this alive?"

"Easy! Fight those barbarians who burnt down that outpost! Then we get Orders of the Garter, a healthy pension, and live out our lives in Tahiti!"

"It's obviously not that simple!"

"What has to be so difficult about it?"

"It's just not that simple!"

"It is that simple!"

"ARGH! ALL RIGHT! IT IS THAT SIMPLE!"

"That's better," he said smugly.

"Get the boys and the kids. We're going to the South Pacific!" she yelled as she ran through the house, collecting the inhabitants for lunch and a battle plan. They assembled in front of the huge teak table heaped with food. Katara brought out the third pot of stew and sat down."All right! You must be wondering why your all down here and stuffing your faces!"

"Not really!" one of Dola's sons said.

"Shut up! After we finish eating, we're piling into the Tiger Moth and taking off for the Anomaly gates! Understood?" she demanded. A roar of approval swept around the table. Gerald stood up in his filthy tank-top and yelled

"For loot and booty!"

"Hurrah!" the assembled group yelled.

"All right! We leave here in five minutes!" Dola yelled. The house became a buzzing hive of activity as people rushed to gather their possessions and get aboard the Tiger Moth. The Scottish farmhouse was empty in four and a half minutes, and in another forty-five seconds, the Tiger Moth was loaded up and ready to go up. Dola took the helm and yelled through the speaking tube "GERALD! GET THE ENGINES GOING! AND STEP ON IT!"

"ALL RIGHT!" he yelled back. "AANG! FIRE UP THE ENGINE CYLINDERS!"

"Right!" Aang crawled up and yanked a lever. The engines started whistling, and the cylinders chugged up and down. The outside propellers started to rotate, and the Moth slid out of the hangar into the glistening Scottish Sky. The Tiger Moth charted a South-by-Southwest course to the South Pacific, leaving the British Army scaling Dunn's Crag in the dust. The brown, vaguely bird-like airship sped into a cloudbank covering southwest Scotland.

...

The War Ministry, No. 18 Whitehall, London

"Minister, I need the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy sent to the South Pacific immediately." the PM demanded of the War Minister, a wispy, elderly man with a long nose.

"Yes, well.." the Minister uttered helplessly.

"The Lord-Admiral has been here hasn't he! He's talked you into not giving me the fleet!" the PM roared.

"The Admiral is a good friend!" He protested.

"Who signs your bloody pay-cheques? Who posted you to your position! Who raised you up from lowly strategist? Not the Admiral!"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I bloody well am! The fate of the entire bloody Empire rests in your hands! Give me the fleet, otherwise I will have you thrown out of the government!"

"So be it! I resign!" he stormed out of the room, his coattails swinging behind him as he went.

"Damn and blast!" the Prime Minister yelled as he turned beet-coloured. He stormed out of the room, down the ornate hallway decorated with paintings of great British victories and generals. He thundered out the door to his waiting car, a Rolls-Royce '66. He slammed the door and roared to his driver, "Buckingham Palace! And hurry it up!"

...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 The British are Coming!

Buckingham Palace, London

The Queen slid a night-gown over her dark-brown bun and down onto her large figure. Her bed was the grandmother of all king-size beds, much like Queen Victoria was the grandmother of pretty much every noble house in Europe. She dismissed the attendants with a royal wave of her royally-sized hand. She turned on her well-cushioned side and fell asleep, but not for long.

Knockknockknock!

"What?"

"Mam, the Prime Ministers just come from the War Ministry, he says the Minister's resigned!" the maid said frantically.

"Send some maids to fetch my evening audience gown." she said commandingly.

"Right away mam!" she said as she scuttled off. She soon returned with one of the Queen's gowns and a small contingent of maids to assist the Queen with her dressing. After a few minutes of frantic prepping, the Queen was tired but presentable. She proceeded in a dignified manner down the solemn blue corridor to the audience chamber. She sat on her throne and told the butler to admit the Prime Minister. After observing proper conduct, the Prime Minister burst to tell the Queen about the War Minister's resignation.

"What! He has gone and resigned! Why?" she burst out.

"I told him that the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy needed to be sent to the South Pacific to guard the Anomaly, and he quit!"

"Why wouldn't he give you the fleet?"

"Because the Lord-Admiral refused to send the fleet unless commanded to do so by an Act of Parliament, or Your Majesty's Decree! I was hoping the War Minister would make him see reason, but we had a spat and he threw in the towel!"

"I will sign the decree."

"Thank you your majesty."

The Queen turned to her old butler and said, "Bring me a decree of command."

"Yes Madam." he soberly intoned as he left the room. A few minutes later the wispy-haired butler was back with a Royal Decree of Command, which the Queen promptly signed.

"Mr. Churchill, please deliver this to the Lord-Admiral's residence. He is to send the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy to the South Faeroe Naval Base at once!"

"Yes your Majesty!" he said exuberantly as he rushed out of the audience chambers towards his awaiting car. Back in the Palace, the Queen turned to her maids and said,

"Now, time to get a spot of sleep wot?". She trotted off to her bedchamber with her maids bobbing about her like tugboats about a great big passenger liner. After a repeat of the entire ritual of getting undressed and ready for sleep, the Queen finally dropped off on her bed.

Airship Tiger Moth, 500 Kilometres Southeast of Portugal The small brown airship whisked thru the air at the brisk pace of 110 kph towards the Americas. In her galley, Katara was cleaning up the colossal mess left by the boys fter breakfest. She sighed as she scrubbed a chunk of pork off a huge copper pot. As she worked, Dola barked from the speaking tube, "Katara! Bring me hunk of bread and slice of pork!" "Yes Captain!" she cheerily responded. "Good girl!" Katara tore a chunk of bread off a loaf, then sliced a thick juicy slice of pork of the roast. She slapped the pork on the bread and walked out the doorway towards the cockpit. The wind stung her face as the vessel raced over the Atlantic. She opened the cockpit to find Dola at the helm, while one of her sons was navigating. Dola heard the door and said, "Thanks! Get one for this idiot too!"

"Yes captain!" she said as she opened the cockpit door into the freezing wind. As she staggered back over the metal deck, she stopped to lean on a railing and take a peek at the ocean whisking by a thousand metres below. After she had scared herself sufficiently, she ran back into the galley to get the pork toast Dola had asked for. After slapping another chunk of the pork onto the bread, she walked back to the cockpit and delivered the goods. "Thanks Katara!" the brown-haired, bushy bearded son hollered over the wind. "Your welcome! Captain, where's Aang?" she enquired. "He's up on the crows nest!" "Thank you captain!" she hollered as she stepped back out into the wind. She made her way to the crows nest ladder and started to climb. ... Royal Air Force Base, British Guyana "Aha! We've got 'er!" the chubby air force captain yelled, his blonde whiskers bristling. "Sir, just because a small brown airship was sighted above northern Portugal does not mean it was the Dola gang!" the taciturn colonel said to the exuberant captain. He twisted his hazel moustache and continued, "It could have been a merchant vessel bound for Lisbon, or a sight-seeing tour!". "But it was marked with a large skull and cross-bones! How many merchant ships would proudly display that I wonder? What do you say to that Colonel Bushnell?" he exclaimed. "It might have been their idea of a joke! I don't think it's wise to go deploying all our Atlantic patrols on their projected route!" he protested violently, his large glasses bouncing on his nose as he shook with indignation. "Well I don't care! Fetch me the wireless!" "Yes sir," he said glumly as he walked out of the room. He got the wireless set and brought it to the captain's office, plugged it in, sat down, and waited for the captain to begin. The captain twisted the coal-black dials with his chubby and bejewelled fingers, set up the antennae, and proceeded to talk. "Attention all RAF Atlantic Patrols! Attention all patrols! The much-feared Dola Gang has been spotted over Portugal! We request all patrols concentrate their efforts in the South Atlantic airways, especially the less used routes. All patrols should be looking for the Tiger Mouth, a small brown airship, seventy metres long. Caution is advised! They are armed and dangerous. That is all." he finished and set down the microphone. He got up and strolled across his office to the liqueur cabinet and pulled out his prize bottle of 1798 scotch. "What say we celebrate colonel?" he asked congenially.

"Save your scotch sir. The time for celebration has not yet come." the colonel said as he stalked out of the room. .  
Airship Tiger Moth, 720 Kilometres Southeast of Portugal "Avast! There's a royal patrol off the port bow!" Dola yelled through all the speaking tubes. "To yer battle stations ye scurvy curs!" The ship's crew sprang into action as the prepared to do battle with the RAF. Katara rushed to batten down the galley, while Aang rushed up to the crow's nest. Dola's boys took up positions at the machine guns, and Dola herself stood defiantly at the bridge. She picked up the speaking tube and yelled "GERALD!"

"YES DOLA?"

"GET THE ENGINES UP TO TOP SPEED!

"YES DOLA!" he yelled as he ran over to the engine room controls. He opened all the valves, increased the steam pressure to full, and soon had the engines running at the their top speed. When the patrol was at a 100 metres, Dola's boys opened up with the machine guns. The Windsor 50 caliber rattled away at their target, but the bullets merely bounced off the aluminum compound armoured exterior. When it was eighty metres distant, the patrol ships guns opened up, tearing chunks out of the Tiger Moth's deck. On the bridge, Dola picked up the general speaking tube, and yelled,

"Everyone get battened down! We can't out gun her, so will try to out run her!" Dola's boys ran into the crew cabin, jumping over gaping holes left by the patrol ship's cannons. Once everyone reported in, Dola did a sharp turn and did her best to catch the wind. The patrol ship opened up again, hitting the hangar, and engine room. In the engine room, Gerald gasped as a massive explosion rocked his precious engines. He picked up the speaking tube to the bridge and yelled,

"DOLA! THE ENGINES CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"ALL RIGHT!" she bellowed as she put all her skill into steering the wounded vessel.

"Dola! It's Aang! There's a hurricane ahead!" Aang shouted through the crows nest speaking tube.

"A hurricane!" she gasped. "How close is the patrol?"

"I'd say 70 metres and gaining!"

"Alright!" she turned to her be-whiskered son and said, "What do you think we should do?".

"I would say we fly straight into the hurricane!" he yelled enthusiastically.

"I'm not going to captain my ship into the eye of a hurricane!"

"Mum it's the only way!" he bellowed as more explosions rocked the Tiger Moth.

"Alright!" she said as she picked up the crow's nest telephone. "Aang!"

"Yes!" he yelled in fright as another explosion rocked the ship.

"Call me captain! And strap yourself in, because we are flying into a hurricane!". She paused and laughed hysterically, then picked the speaking tube back up and asid, "Katara? Are you up there my dear?".

"Yes captain."

"Best you come down right now!"

"Why captain?"

Dola bristled up at hearing this, then yelled with her blue eyes bulging, "Because you're a girl, a female! That's mans work!"

"But your female captain!"

"You got a point there me hearty! Strap yourselves in, it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

The Tiger Moth fled into approaching Hurricane Isabelle, with the patrol close in pursuit. As soon the two ships entered the hurricane, the Tiger Moth's nimbleness in a storm soon became apparent. The patrol soon faltered and fell far behind. As the Tiger Moth battled its' way through the storm, Aang and Katara were clutching the rail and trying not to be blown away.  
... 


End file.
